The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun
The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun is a song by Dream Theater. It is the seventh song from their first album, When Dream and Day Unite. Personnel * Mike Portnoy - Drums * John Petrucci - Guitar, lyrics * John Myung - Bass * Kevin Moore - Keyboard * Charlie Dominici - Vocals Lyrics Watching my window I was led like a child As the roadway lamplights Misguided my mind through the night A shadow of limits We were racing the rain my hands held the wheel My eyes tried to hold their place There must have been a time When I thought that you were watching It had to be when my senses lost control I thought I'd slipped away I thought I could still feel us moving It must have been a cloud No bigger than a man's hand Every reason I risk my life To come back to you Is locked behind your door You're my immunity Outside I watched you burn Heavy hearts were bleeding A cry for help, a familiar voice My melting hands streaked the glass As I walked away I wondered what had really happened Had I run out of time Did I push myself too far As my last step fell I felt my hands upon the wheel Had I come back to life Or did I ever leave at all In higher lives We seem to be always a moment too late We're past the time when we looked on Now we're THE ONES WHO HELP TO SET THE SUN This time for real I locked the door behind me My mind was still a wreck from what I saw For when my hands are still I'll recognize the message Never again will my senses lose control In higher lives We seem to be Always a moment too late We're past the time when we looked on Now we're THE ONES WHO HELP TO SET THE SUN Analysis According to Petrucci, the song is about a man who is driving late at night in bad weather and falls asleep at the wheel for a split second. In that small amount of time he has a dream about his own death and he awakens with a new outlook on life. Tone Compared to most of the songs on the album, The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun is slower and more progressive, though not as much as The Killing Hand. The song has an extended atmospheric intro, referred to by the band as "The Death of Spock". Notes In instrumental form, the song was called "The Death of Spock" which still refers to the intro. The name refers to the intro fitting in well with the death scene from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Live Performances Performances of the song are very uncommon, though it did see a surge in popularity on the tour to support Train of Thought. Live versions of the song are straightforward and do not deviate in any major way from the album version. The song was played a few times in 1994 sans the "Death of Spock" section and also without any keyboards, presumably because the band's then-new keyboardist Derek Sherinian had not learned the song. Appearances * When Dream and Day Unite - Original recorded version * When Dream and Day Unite Demos - Instrumental demo version, vocal demo version and pre-production demo version * When Dream and Day Reunite - Live version Category:When Dream and Day Unite Era